Romeo & Juliet Video
Guide
Before and after viewing
Acts I-III, fill in the answers to the following:
Act I
1.
(Before) Star-crossed
lovers means ________________________________________
2.
To “bite your
thumb” is an _______________________________________________
3.
A troubadour is
_______________________________________________________
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4.
People in
Shakespeare’s day believed that love first came through the eyes. What do we
call it when people fall in love when they first meet?
_____________________________________________________________________
5.
Lord Capulet
says, “Her will to my consent is but a part.” He is speaking to Paris who wants
to marry Juliet and what he means is __________________________________
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6.
Romeo’s first
soliloquy comes at the dance at the Capulet’s. He says, “O, she doth teach the
torches to burn bright” as he looks at Juliet. He is saying that she is so
beautiful that her light teaches other light, torches for example. What is a
soliloquy?
_____________________________________________________________________
7.
(After) What
does the prince say will be the sentence if the two families fight again?
_____________________________________________________________________
8.
Why is the nurse insulted when Lady Capulet
asks her to leave so she and Juliet can talk in private?
________________________________________________________
Act
II
9.
(Before) In
Shakespeare’s time they also believed that the god Cupid shot an arrow that
wounded them, or made them fall in love. Romeo refers to being wounded several
times. At the beginning of this act, Mercutio is mocking or laughing at Romeo
who has been so lovesick lately over Rosaline. Mercutio does not know about
Juliet though. Romeo says, though Mercutio can’t hear him, “He jests at scars
that never felt a wound.” What is he saying?
_________________________________________
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10. Near the end of the balcony scene, Juliet tells Romeo
she should have been more “strange.” She means that she should have been less
eager in her affections for him. She hopes he will not think that she is too
easily won. What expression do we sometimes use when we mean the same thing?
_______________________________
11. (After) What does Juliet tell Romeo he must do if he
is serious in his love for her?
_____________________________________________________________________
12. What is Friar Lawrence doing when we first meet him?
________________________ This will become important
later. The Friar knows about the medicinal qualities of plants.
13. What makes Friar Lawrence change his mind and
suddenly agree that a marriage between Romeo and Juliet would be a good thing?
____________________________
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Act
III
14. (Before) A pun is a play on words with either two
words that are very similar in sound but have different meanings or with only
one word that has two different meanings. Puns are usually funny and play on
people’s sense of what they might expect. In this act, Mercutio uses the word
“grave.” He tells his friends that if they call for him tomorrow they will find
him a grave man. They think he means “serious.” What he really means is “dead.”
They find humor, but because of __________________________________ (kind of
irony) we do not. We know Mercutio is mortally wounded.
15. (After) Do you think Romeo should have told Tybalt
that he was his cousin before the fight began? Explain. ___________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
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16. Mercutio says to Romeo, “I was hurt under your arm.” Why
does Mercutio blame Romeo for his death? What was Romeo trying to do? _________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
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17. Romeo says, “Oh I am fortune’s fool.” He means that
he has bad luck. Do you agree or disagree that luck has been responsible for
how things have turned bad. Explain.
_____________________________________________________________________
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18. What is the prince’s punishment for Romeo? What will
happen if he is found back in
19. Lady Capulet gets very angry at Juliet after she refuses
to marry
20. If you were Juliet, would you have told your mother
the truth, that you are already married to Romeo? Why or Why not?
______________________________________
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Space
for more notes below (or record questions you have that you want answered):
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